INTEGRATION OF COMPUTING AND ROUTINE WORK.

Most computing serves as a resource or tool to support other work: performing complex analyses for engineering projects, preparing documents, or sending electronic mail using office automation equipment, etc. To improve the character, quality, and ease of computing work, we must understand how automated systems actually are integrated into the work they support. How do people actually adapt to computing a resource? How do they deal with the unreliability in hardware, software, or operations; data inaccuracy; system changes; poor documentation; inappropriate designs; etc. ; which are present in almost every computing milieu, even where computing a widely used and considered highly successful? This paper presents some results of a detailed empirical study of routine computer use in several organizations.